hbar Posted April 21, 2009 Posted April 21, 2009 So if a 70's Custom has SECOND stamped into the headstock, what does it really mean? Is that a wood imperfection, headstock, workmanship, what? thx
BigKahune Posted April 21, 2009 Posted April 21, 2009 So if a 70's Custom has SECOND stamped into the headstock' date=' what does it [i']really[/i] mean? Is that a wood imperfection, headstock, workmanship, what? thx Back in the day, Gibson would mark 'inferior quality' guitars as seconds and sell them at discounted prices. There could be a lot of reasons (wood imperfection, headstock, workmanship, finish, etc) to mark a guitar as a second and some of the issues could be 'minor' - so get your hands on it, look it over and play it before you buy it. A 2nd could still be a nice guitar. Now-a-days, Gibson tries to fix the 'inferior quality' guitars with minor issues and scraps the ones with issues that can't be fixed.
Flight959 Posted April 22, 2009 Posted April 22, 2009 Seconds have a "2" stamped above the serial number and like Bigkahune said they usually had an issue of one type or another. Gibson also used to mark the headstock with the letters BGN for bargain which only Gibson employees could buy. If the issue was serious then "CULL" was stamped into the headstock... These were to be destroyed! There not allowed to sell seconds anymore and havent done in years... The most seconds I have seen have had an issue with the finish... Regards Flight959
bluzhammer Posted April 22, 2009 Posted April 22, 2009 I have seen a few seconds in my time, and truthfully alot of the issues were cosmetic in nature. Tone and playability weren't affected, that being said, I wasn't privy to any setup work that had to be done to the guitar.
hbar Posted April 22, 2009 Author Posted April 22, 2009 Seconds have a "2" stamped above the serial number and like Bigkahune said they usually had an issue of one type or another. Gibson also used to mark the headstock with the letters BGN for bargain which only Gibson employees could buy. If the issue was serious then "CULL" was stamped into the headstock... These were to be destroyed! There not allowed to sell seconds anymore and havent done in years... The most seconds I have seen have had an issue with the finish... Regards Flight959 The guitar in question is a '76 Custom stamped "SECOND" (I've only seen 3 or 4 seconds in my days, but they have all said "SECOND" rather than "2"), and nothing *appears* to be wrong with it. I was primarily concerned that a 2nd might have neck issues or something else equally serious.
Flight959 Posted April 22, 2009 Posted April 22, 2009 I have never actually seen "Second" stamped so I dont know... If the guitar has a serial number the "2" is usually above it.. I Got Cull and BGN the wrong way round. "BGN" (Bargain) were guitars not suitabe for the public and sold to employees only, and "CULL" was stamped instead of "2" (Meaning the same thing... Flight959
hbar Posted April 22, 2009 Author Posted April 22, 2009 I have never actually seen "Second" stamped so I dont know You can no longer say that.
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